Sealed container



July 1, 1969 o. w. DONOVAN 3,

v SEALED CONTAINER Filed Sept. 13. 1967- INVENTOR. DONALD W. DONOVANAGENT;

United States Patent assignor to Mo., a corporation of 9 Claims ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE A beverage container comprising a cup with a sanitarylip, and a closure tape sealed to the cup which protects the lip.

This invention is concerned with containers, and more particularly withsealed beverage containers of the throwaway type.

As is well known, there are in existence sealed expendable containersmade of wax board, impregnated paper and the like which are used onpicnics, in school and factory lunches, and in the home for holding pre-packed beverages such as milk, soda, juices, etc. To consume thecontents, the user either requires a straw for use with the purchasedcontainer, or another receptacle such as a separate sanitary glass orcup into which the contents of the expendable package are emptied priorto consumption. Direct consumption from the expendable container isgenerally either unsanitary because of the unprotected container outlet,or awkward either because the outlet is offcenter or has discontinuitiesin its rim. Spillage often occurs during opening because of thetighteness of the seal of the relatively small package. Once the seal isbroken, the container generally cannot be resealed, though it may bedesirable to do so when all the contents are not consumed at one time.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention, to provide animproved beverage container for milk, juices and other products whichavoid the prior art diificulties discussed above.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide abeverage container for milk, juices and the like having a tight fittingcover which may be readily removed when desired.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a beveragecontainer having a tight fitting, easy opening cover which may bereadily removed and reinstalled t0 reseal the container.

A still further object of the present invention i to provide a widemouth beverage container having a sanitary drinking lip for cooperationwith a cover which shields the lip from exposure.

Another object of this invention is to provide a plastic container andlid for milk, juices and the like wherein the lid is firmly retained intamper-proof sealing engagement, and is readily removable by means of atear strip.

A further object of this invention is to provide a plastic container formilk, juices and the like having a plastic lid sealed in place thereon,and removable by means of a tear strip, wherein the lid subsequently iscapable of resealing for continued storage of material which is notdispensed from the container upon initial opening thereof.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

These and other objects are accomplished by providing a thin walldrinking container comprising a cup portion, a closure member for thecup portion, and a band seal for the cup portion and the closure member,the cup portion comprising a bottom, a sidewall extending upwardly andoutwardly from the axis of the cup portion to form an open upper end,and a down-turned, sanitary lip at the top of, and outwardly disposedrelative to the sidewall, the closure member in mounted position on thecup portion providing a top lying across, and in sealing engagement withthe upper margin of the down-turned lip, the closure member having adepending shielding flange covering a major portion of the outer surfaceof the downturned sanitary lip, with the band seal being associated withthe outer surfaces of both the sanitary lip and the shielding flange.

In describing the overall invention, reference will be made to preferredembodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. I is an elevational view of a container constructed in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. II is an enlarged longitudinal section through the container ofFIG. I, substantially along line II-II of FIG. I.

FIG. III is a view similar to FIG. II of an alternate embodiment of thepresent invention.

With reference to the drawings, wherein identical numerals refer toidentical parts, there is shown in FIG. I a thin wall plastic drinkingcontainer, broadly identified as 10, constructed in accordance with thepresent invention. Container 10 comprises cylindrical one-piece cupportion 11, one-piece closure member 12 and band seal 34. Cup portion 11has a cylindrical bottom 13 which may peripherally taper conicallyupwardly toward the cup axis, as in FIG. I, and a circumferentialsidewall 14 having a lower portion 16 extending upwardly and tapering ordiverging outwardly along the cup axis from the confluence of thesidewall and the bottom wall. Sidewall 14 further has an upper margin 18which is back tapered or reversely angled slightly inwardly from lowerportion 16 to form an open, wide mouth upper end. Sidewall 14 is ofsuflicient total length to permit gripping thereof by the user of thecontainer. Down-turned elongated drinking or sanitary lip 20 is providedat the top of, and flaring outwardly from the inwardly extending portion18 of sidewall 14. Drinking lip 20 is curled outwardly and extendssubstantially downwardly from the upper end of the top portion, asuflicient distance to permit placement of the users lip thereon, andhas a smooth and continuous outer surface as shown in FIG. II. Shallowoutward step 22 is located at the lower end of lip 20 formed by outwardextension 24 of lip 20.

One-piece closure member 12 for cup portion 11 in the embodiment of FIG.II is of the plug type design for telescoping insertion into the mouthor upper end of cup portion 11. Closure member 12 in FIG. II has agenerally planar depressed top wall 26 for closing the open end of cup11, which may be slightly arched so as to fit within the graduallyupwardly tapered bottom wall 12 of the cup portion 11, when one cupportion is placed on a closure member as shown schematically in FIG. I.This construction provides some lateral stacking stability for thefilled container during bulk shipment in that the lower end of the cupportion is confined protectively on the arch of the closure top wall,and within the confining sidewall of the closure member, and thereby notas prone to slide off. Closure member 12 further comprises shortcylindrical sidewall 28 reversely angled from lower portion 16 of cup 11and matching the reversely angled upper margin 18 of cup sidewall 14.Sidewall 28 extends upwardly from the periphery of top wall 26. Closuremember 12 also has protective skirt or shielding flange 30 projectingdownwardly from the upper end of closure sidewall 28.

When the closure member 12 as depicted in FIGS. I and II is mounted oncup portion 11, top wall 26 thereof lies across and covers the open endof the cup. Reversely angled sidewall 28 of closure member 12 snugly andresiliently snaps into the open end of cup 11, and seals against theoutside surface 31 of the mating back tapered portion 18 of sidewall 14of cup portion 11, along its full length. Protective skirt 30 of closuremember 12 surrounds and covers at least the users lip area of drinkinglip 20 of cup portion 11, with the lower portion 32 thereof snugly andflushly fitting within outward step 22 in the lower end of lip 20 so asto provide a generally neat appearing and cylindrically contiuouscontainer outer upper end, without any outward projections. The outersurface or protective skirt 30 may be either completely or partiallycircumferentially serrated above its lower end as typically shown at 44in FIG. I, to facilitate gripping for opening the container as hereafterdescribed.

Circumferential band seal 34 of container is provided at the lower endsof the mating drinking lip 20 and protective skirt 30, as depicted inFIG. II, to insure against contamination of any type entering betweenthe outer surface of the sanitary drinking lip and the inner surface ofthe shielding flange, prior to removal by the consumer. This band seal34 compressively overlies at least a portion of the outer surface of thelower end 32 of protective skirt 30, and the outer surface of stepdefining projection 24 in the lower end of drinking lip 20, so as toflushly seal the lower end of the protective skirt within step 22 ofdrinking lip 20. Band seal 34 may be either peripherally continuous, orcomprise a number of short sections at spaced intervals around thecontainer circumference.

At the junction of the lower portion 16 and the upper portion 18 of cupportion 11, there may be provided an outward, fairly sharply roundednesting shoulder 36, the outer surface of which may rest upon the inneredge of the rounded top of an adjacently nested cup portion, to maintainthe cups in spaced relationship when one is nested within another forstorage purposes prior to filling. This shoulder would provide forreliable individual dispensing of cup portions from automatic feedingequipment during filling of the containers in the plant of the packager.

In FIG. III is shown an alternate embodiment of the present invention,in that top wall 38 of the closure member is not depressed, but israther generally fiat as shown. In place of the interference or frictionfit provided by the back tapered sidewall of the telescoping plug typeclosure member of FIG. II, there is provided a separate auxiliary seal40 adhesively joining the underside of flush type lid 38 to the roundedupper end 42 of cup portion 11. Obviously sealant 40 must be of anon-toxic nature, and preferably is applied to, and remains adhered tothe closure member when the container is opened, so as to minimize theexistence of sealant on the rounded top of the peripheral lip of thecontainer cup during use by the consumer.

To remove closure member 12 of FIGS. I and II from cup portion 11, theconsumer grips serrated outer surface 44 of shielding lip 30 with onehand and twists while retaining cup portion 11 stationary with the otherhand, thereby gently rupturing tape or band seal 34 which binds skirt 30to lip 20. The thumb or fingers of the user may be then placed withinstep 22, and closure member 12 gently pried locally upward to interruptthe interference fit between the outer surface of sidewall 28 of closure12 and the inner surface of the upper margin 18 of sidewall 14 of cupportion 11. As will be appreciated, the continued upward pressure on theclosure in a localized region which may be accompanied by twisting,causes the back tapered sidewall of the closure to cam all of the wayover the similarly configured upper margin of the cup sidewall, therebyallowing the lid progressively to be removed from the cup with ease.Alternatively, band seal 34 could have a pull tab extension for firstpeeling off seal 34 from the container. In such cases the serratedsurface may not be necessary. With the closure removed, the contents arethen accessible to the consumer, who may drink from the wide mouth cupby placement of his lip against drinking l p 20 of cup portion 11. Ifall of the contents are not 4 consumed at one time, the container may berescaled by gently and resiliently snapping the closure back into placeon the cup, to reestablish the frictional scaling fit between the upperend of the cup and the closure sidewall.

The above description and particularly the drawings are set forth forpurposes of illustration only and are not to be taken in a limitedsense.

The material from which the cup and closure members are formed may be ofany material of sufficient strength to be fabricated relatively thinlyfor economy purposes, and sulficiently flexible to permit the parts tobe fitted together. Typical materials are paper, cardboard, plastics,etc. including any combination of two or more of such materials. Anycommon method of manufacture may be employed which is most suitable tothe particular material being processed. It is preferred, in the presentinvention that the container be made of thermoplastic, which has theadditional advantage of being tough and unbreakable under ordinary useconditions. The preferred forming method is from web stock by any of thewell known sheet thermoforming processes such as, for example, pressuredifferential forming, using vacuum or positive pressure, and with orwithout a plug assist. The resulting cap or closure when formed in thismanner is unitary in construction, has no seams and is of the thin wallvariety having a wall thickness between about 2 to mils. This thicknessis substantially uniform throughout the entire extent of the formedparts. Styrene-based thermoplastics are preferred for manufacturing thecontainers of the present invention, since even when thin, this materialis tough and resent, even at low temperatures. This latter point isimportant in considering the plastc material for the container, since itmust be kept in mind that the contents at times may be refrigeratedbelow about 0 F. for extended periods. Some plastics are more brittleand susceptible to fracture under these conditions.

The band seal of the container of the present invention may take avariety of forms, as long as it functions to hold the shielding flangeof the closure protectively over the sanitary drinking lip of the cupportion, and seals off the outer edges of these two parts. For example,the band may be either circumferentially continuous around the fullcontainer body, or may comprise short spaced sections adhered to the lipand shielding flange. It may take the form of a rubber band, wire,adhesive tape, etc. A heat shrinkable sleeve is preferred because of theunusually tight and relatively inexpensive seal obtained.

The cup portion of the container of the present invention may be of anygeometrical configuration as long as there is a smooth sanitary drinkinglip at its upper end. Otherwise the cup may be round, square, hexagonal,etc. and may have any number of sides.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention contemplates the useof a tear strip to break an initial seal, but wherein the cup andclosure are so configured to allow resealing. In some instances suchrescaling may not be at all necessary such as in the case of very smallcontainers in which it is intended that the entire contents be consumedpromptly on opening the container. In such instances it is unnecessaryto have the cooperating back tapered portions, and accordingly theembodiment of FIG. III is provided. In general, however, a separate sealof some type is necessary at the rim of the cup, to prevent the contentsfrom working in between the sanitary lip and closure sealing flange.

The present invention provides a unique beverage container suitable forcontaining various liquids in an air tight and sanitary manner. Theclosure in each instance is initially firmly held in place, but isreadily removable without spilling the contents. The lid, however,cannot be removed without the tearing off of a band seal therefrom,thereby insuring purity and freshness of the contents, and sanitaryprotection of a smooth drinking lip on the container cup portion. Thecontainer cup portion when uncovered presents a wide mouth sanitaryopening for direct drinking of the container contents by the consumer.

It will be understood that numerous changes may be made in the designand construction hereof without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A thin wall plastic drinking container comprising a resilient cupportion, a plug type closure member for the cup portion and a band sealfor the cup portion and closure member,

(a) said cup portion comprising a circular bottom, a circumferentialsidewall initially extending upwardly and diverging outwardly from thebottom, the upper margin of said sidewall tapering slightly inwardly tothe uppermost end of said sidewall to form an open upper end having adiameter less than that of the lower end of said upper margin, anoutwardly directed stacking shoulder in said sidewall at the lower endof said upper margin for supporting said cup portion on the upper end ofthe upper margin of a similarly constructed cup portion, a downturneddrinking lip at the top of, and flaring outwardly of the upper end ofsaid sidewall, said lip extending downwardly below said shoulder tofacilitate placement of a lip of a user thereon;

(b) said plug type closure member having a top, a short reversely angledsidewall extending upwardly therefrom, and a protective skirt extendingdownwardly from the upper end of said closure sidewall, said closuresidewall and said upper margin of the cup portion being in sealingengagement, with said closure top lying across the open end of the cupportion and said protective skirt covering the users lip area of the cupportion when the closure is mounted on the cup portion; and

(c) said band seal binding theouter surface of the lower end of saidprotective skirt to the drinking lip of the cup portion.

2. The container of claim 1 wherein the plug type closure has areversely angled sidewall, and the upper area of the sidewall of the cupportion is similarly reversely angled, to provide a friction sealing fitbetween the closure and cup portion when the closure is mounted on saidcup portion.

3. The container of claim 1 wherein the outer surface of the drinkinglip of the cup portion is continuous.

4. The container of claim 1 wherein the bottom wall of the cup portionperipherally conically tapers gradually upwardly toward the cup axis,and the top wall of the plug type closure member is arched so as to fitwithin the gradually upwardly tapered bottom wall of the cup portionwhen a cup portion is placed on a closure member.

5. The container of claim 1 wherein the protective skirt of the closuremember is serrated to facilitate turning the closure to rupture the sealbetween the cup portion and the closure member.

6. A thin wall plastic drinking container comprising a (a) said cupportion comprising a circular bottom, a

circumferential sidewall having a lower portion extending upwardly andexpanding outwardly from the bottom, said lower portion being ofsubstantial height to permit gripping thereof by the user, an uppermargin tapering slightly inwardly to form an open upper end, and adownturned, elongated drinking lip at the top of and extending outwardlyof said sidewall, said lip having a smooth outer surface, and a shallowoutward step at its lower end;

(b) said closure member having a top wall for closing the open end ofthe cup portion, a short reversely angled sidewall for telescopingengagement with the upper margin of the cup portion, and a protectiveskirt extending downwardly from the upper end of the closure sidewallfor covering said drinking lip of the cup portion, the lower end of saidskirt fitting flushly within said step in the drinking lip; and

(c) said band seal compressively overlying at least a portion of theouter surface of the lower end of said protective skirt, and the outersurface of the step defining surface of the drinking lip, therebyfiushly sealing the lower end of the protective skirt within the step ofthe drinking lip.

7. The container of claim 6 wherein the band seal is circumferentiallycontinuous.

8. The container of claim 6 wherein the outer surface of the protectiveskirt of the closure member is serrated above the lower end.

9. The container of claim 6 wherein the cup portion is formed fromthermoplastic sheet to provide a seamless unitary construction having asidewall thickness between about 2 to mils.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 79,843 7/1868 Loder 215 2,626,7031/ 1953 Watson. 2,829,790 4/ 1958 Isele-Aregger. 3,055,540 9/1962Ringlen .5 XR 3,150,811 9/1964 Amberg. 3,237,803 3/ 1966 Edwards.3,315,872 4/ 1967 Carbone. 3,331,105 7/1967 Gordon. 3,351,227 11/1967Collie 150.5 3,355,056 1l/1967 Fisch 150.5 XR 3,358,879 12/ 1967Mueller. 3,362,575 1/1968 Fotos. 3,321,124 5/1967 Bank 22943 3,392,8717/ 1968 Donovan 220-60 XR DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

